19.01.22

3 NE states to complete 50 years of statehood on January 21

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Three NE states, including two erstwhile princely states which were given status of full-fledged states quarter of a century agao after Indias Independence, will complete 50 years of statehood together on January 21.

The princely states ofManipurandTripurawere first merged with India in 1949. They were upgraded as Union Territories in 1956 till the next upgradation as a full-fledged state on January 21, 1972.

Meghalaya, on the other hand, was created as an autonomous state withinAssamin 1970 and then carved out as full-fledged state together with Manipur and Tripura on the same day.Meghalayas capital, Shillong, was made Assams capital in 1874 and remained so till January, 1972.

Tripura was ruled by Maharajas of Manikya dynasty and on September 9, 1949 Maharani Kanchan Prava Devi, then Maharani Regent of Tripura, signed on the merger document on behalf of Maharaja Manikya Kirit Bikram Kishore Dev Barman Bahadur, the minor ruler of Tripura.

But except Tripura and Manipur, the remaining five states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland,Mizoram, Meghalaya and Assam remain engaged in violent inter-state border disputes since four of them were carved out of Assam to eventually form as separate states.
Assam and Meghalaya have agreed to resolve the dispute partially, while the dispute between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh is on course for a solution soon. But Nagaland and Mizoram remain as stumbling blocks despite Union Home minister Amit Shahs direct intervention. While Mizoram and Arunachal will complete 35 years of statehood next month on the 20th, Nagaland will complete 60 years of statehood on December 1 this year. Assam became a state on January 26, 1950.

Assam, Meghalaya to divide 36sqkm disputed land equally

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:AssamandMeghalayahave agreed in principle to divide about 36 sqkm of disputed land at six places between them in almost equal parts to partially end the 50-year-old border row between them.

The disputes in six other remaining areas, which are termed as complicated, will be taken up for settlement in the next phase.

The two states have, however, agreed that the disputes will be limited to only these 12 areas based on the claims made by Meghalaya till 2011 and that Meghalaya cannot make any further claims.

The Assam-Meghalaya proposal will be sent to MHA for approval as inter-state boundary is a central subject, which will have to be then approved by parliament as Meghalaya became a full-fledged state in 1972 under the North Eastern Region (Re-organisation) Act of 1971 and then ratified by the legislative assemblies of both states.

Directive to develop software for forest clearance proposals

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Chief secretarySuresh Chandra Mohapatradirected secretaries of various departments to make use of the latest provisions of forest laws for expeditious implementation of the critical and development projects.

The chief secretary also directed the forest and Environment department to circulate a simplified guideline with frequently asked questions (FAQs) and answers among the district and field level officers of both the forest and user departments for expediting approvals. The department was also asked to organize regular orientation programme of the forest and revenue officers and update them about latest position of the law regarding development of the critical socio-economic infrastructure.

Around 13 types of essential projects could be approved under the latestForest Rights Act. These include construction of schools, dispensary, fair price shops, electric and Telecommunication lines, tanks, drinking water projects, minor Irrigation projects, canal, water harvesting structures, clean energy, skill training centre, roads, and community centres.Permission of the use of forest land to the extent of one hectarw could be given by the DFOs.

TN to try to make mathematics easier for middle school students

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An effort to make mathematics Learning easier through an activity-based learning project will be launched in Nadu soon.

Magizh Kanitham’ (Learning Mathematics with Joy) will, according to Samagra Shiksha officials, kindle interest among children to learn mathematics. This new TEACHING concept will teach basic mathematics, algebra, and geometry through 180-minute Videos.

The state Education Department is planning to implement the Magizh Kanitham in 6,948 government middle schools across Tamil Nadu with immediate effect.

State Samagra Shiksha officials said that the assessment done on the students has revealed that most of the students in middle schools were finding mathematics difficult and considered it a dreaded subject.

They expressed hope that the students would get basic knowledge of the subject through video learning and get a grip of the subject through this innovative method of learning.

The involvement of mathematics teachers in analysing the students is also an important part of the new concept of learning the subject.

Keralas Kumbalanghi: Indias First Sanitary-Napkin Free Village

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Kumbalanghi in Kerala will be India’s first village without sanitary napkins.

Highlights:

Kumbalanghi in Kerala is scheduled to be the first sanitary napkin-free panchayat in the country.

This action is part of the ‘Avalkayi’ initiative, which is being carried out in the Ernakulam electoral district in collaboration with HLL Management Academy’s “Thingal Scheme” and Indian Oil Corporation.

Menstrual cups will be supplied to Women in Kumbalangi village aged 18 and up as part of this campaign.

Under it, 5000 menstruation cups will be supplied. The Governor will also designate Kumbalangi village as a model village at the same time.

The Pradhan Mantri Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (PM-SAGY) is funding the model village project. In addition, a new visitor information center will be built in the village.

Kumbalangi is an island town on the fringes of Kerala’s Kochi metropolis.

It is a popular tourist destination known for its Chinese fishing nets.

It’s roughly 12 kilometers from the city center, nestled among backwaters.

The village is also India’s first eco-tourism destination.

Karnataka invites Elon Musk to set up Tesla plant

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Karnatakahas joined other states in trying to attract electric majorTeslaby extending an invitation to its billionaire-founder and CEO ElonMusk.

, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Punjab and Tamil Nadu have already invited Musk to set up shop.

In January 2021, Tesla registered its office in Bengaluru as Tesla India Motors & Energy Pvt Ltd and named three directors. The firm is registered with an authorised capital of Rs 15 lakh and paid-up capital of Rs 1 lakh.

Mana Ooru Mana Badi

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The government introduced the Mana Ooru Mana Badi scheme.

Highlights:

The program will help the state build school Infrastructure and will cost Rs 7,289 crores to implement. The program will assist more than 19.84 lakh children.

In the first phase, the initiative will be deployed in 9,123 local council schools and the public. The appropriate district collectors will provide approval to build infrastructures under the scheme.

The initiative will be carried out by management committees established at each school.

The cabinet decided to draft a new law to govern the fee structure of state schools. This includes both public and private schools.

Andhra Pradesh’s revenues report highest gain in 5 years

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This is considered to be the highest gain in the last five years. In fact, AP fetched more revenues than neighbouring during the corresponding period.

According to the latest report released by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), AP fetched Rs 88,618 crore in the first seven months of the current fiscal.

This is almost 22000 crore more than the revenues fetched during same period in 2020. The state’s revenues were badly hit due to the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020.

Although a Growth rate of 10-15 per cent is anticipated every financial year, AP’s achieved over 35 per cent growth rate in one fiscal. In fact, Covid-19 second wave crippled the state between April and June in 2021.

The tax revenues proved that state achieved better growth rate despite struggling with the second wave of Covid-19 for the entire first quarter of the current fiscal.

Scientists to study magnetic anomalies in Indian Ocean

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TheNational Centre for Polar and Ocean Research(NCPOR) has left on a 30-day expedition in theIndian Oceanto researchmagnetic anomalies. Scientists on the expedition aim to acquire geophysical and geological data from the central Indian Ocean.

The scientists will be making use of a magnetometer that will be towed along with the vessel to collect the data. This data will be analysed during the research expedition.

The scientists on board the deep-sea ocean research vessel (ORV) Sagar Kanya have been fully vaccinated and have gone through a series of medical tests before undertaking the month-long voyage, to ensure that there are no obstacles during the process of embarking and disembarking the vessel during port clearance.
The vessel is a multi-disciplinary research vessel which was built in the 1980s in collaboration with experts from Germany.

Central funds of Rs 80 lakh for facelift to Pune zilla parishad schools

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The Pune zilla parishad (ZP) schools are all set for a facelift in and academics with a boost of Rs 80 lakh funding as part of the STARS project by the Union Government.

The Pune ZP will select schools in the district for the makeover aimed at improving the quality of Education and performance grading index from pre-primary to StdXIIclasses.

Strengthening TEACHING–Learning and Results for StatesProgramme(STARS) project has been launched in Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha andRajasthan.

The State Government has set up a seven-member panel that will coordinate and overlook the functioning of the project in Maharashtra.

There will also be efforts to reduce dropouts, improve learning outcomes and extend counselling and guidance sessions to students.